Refrigerators are electrical appliances capable of maintaining a storage chamber below room temperature. Food can be stored in a refrigerator in a cold or frozen state.
The internal space of a refrigerator is maintained at a low temperature by cool air circulation. Cool air is generated through heat transfer of refrigerant through a cooling cycle, e.g., including compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation. Cool air supplied into the refrigerator is distributed or circulated in the internal space of the refrigerator to achieve a desired temperature.
Typically, a main body of the refrigerator has a rectangular parallel-piped structure with doors installed on the front side. A refrigerating chamber and a freezer are enclosed in the main body, each having its own door. A plurality of drawers, trays, and/or storage boxes may be installed in the refrigerator, e.g., for sorting the stored food or other items.
A top-mount style refrigerator has a freezer disposed above a refrigerating space. In contrast, a bottom-freezer style refrigerator has a freezer disposed below a refrigerating space. Bottom-freezers style refrigerators have become increasingly popular. Generally users use the refrigerating space much more often than the freezer. A bottom-freezer style refrigerator provides more convenience to the user because its refrigerating space is disposed in the upper portion of the refrigerator and the user can easily access the refrigerating space without bending or otherwise lowering his or her body.
Typically, cool air is supplied from a freezer to a refrigerating chamber through a cool air discharge path. A damper is usually installed between the freezer and the refrigerating chamber for opening or closing the cool air path. For example, the damper can be installed inside a barrier (or wall) that separates the freezer and the refrigerating chamber from each other. The damper regulates air flow in the cool air path between the freezer and the refrigerating chamber. In general, the damper remains closed during a refrigeration cycle. The damper opens when the refrigerating chamber temperature rises above a threshold, which opens the cool air path for cool air to flow from the freezer to the refrigerating chamber.
When a damper is closed, dew tends to form around the damper (for example, a damper housing) due to the temperature difference between the freezer and the refrigerating chamber. When the damper opens to allow cool air to flow through, the temperature of the damper can be rapidly changed to a freezing point and causes the dewdrops around the damper to freeze into ice.
Conventionally, the damper uses a heater to remove the ice converted from dew. However, ice formed near the damper housing may not be immediately removed and unfortunately tends to interfere with the moveable parts of the damper when the damper switches from one state to another, e.g., open to closed or vice versa.